The Development of the "Kyokushin Karate"

 

 

The origin of Karate is very uncertain. However, as early as the Meiji era, Karate was widely known among the Japanese people. Originally, Karate meant “Chinese Art”, because the Chinese character “Tog” is read as “Kara” in Japanese. This probably gave cause to the speculation that Karate had its beginnings in China. But in 1937, Karate was changed to read “empty hand” in Japanese.

 

Legend states that some 1500 years ago, a Buddhist priest, Daruma Taishi of southern India travelled to China to teach the secrets of Zen. There he secluded himself in the temple Shorinji at Chung Shan, Honan Province.

 

Daruma’s secret of Zen was very difficult to learn and the intense practice of austerity during the training period weakened his disciples mentally and physically. Many who desired to study his teachings fell by the wayside. To correct the situation, Daruma taught them a form of exercise – the doctrine of inseparability of spirit and body called “Eki Kinkyo”, the foundation of Chinese Kenpo.

 

As time passed, this doctrine of Chinese self-defense became synonymous with Shorinji. The Shorinji art (Chinese fist) was supreme in china and flourished for hundreds of years. Gradually the Shorinji art of self-defencse found its way to Okinawa. Although Okinawa had its own art of Kenpo (called “Kumiai jutsu” or “Bushi-de” or “te”), Shorinji Kenpo influenced the development of Okinawan Karate tremendously.

 

In Okinawa, Karate was practiced in secret for hundreds of years until 1901. It was then brought to light as a part of regular curriculum in the First Middle School of Okinawa. Master Anhou Itosu was the first instructor.

 

It was from this school that Master Gichin Funakoshi acquired his training, and later, in 1916, he introduced Karate to Japan. Master Funakoshi was the pioneer of Karate in Japan and he spent the rest of his life popularizing it there.

 

Later, following his footsteps, other Karate masters from Okinawa came to Japan. Rapidly, Karate became widespread and many Karate organizations were formed. Rules for tournaments were subsequently formulated to make Karate a competitive sport.

 

Therefore, it can be safely summated that the history of Karate had its beginnings in China, then gradually wound its way to Korea, Okinawa, and Japan.

 

Mas Oyama's Karate originated from this same aforementioned source.  And yet he creatively developed Kyokushin System through the wealth of knowledge and experiences he attained from a variety of martial art sources.

 

At the tender age of nine, he was first introduced to the world of martial arts through a gentleman only known as Mr. Yi.  And it was on a farm in Manchuria that he started studying the Southern Chinese form of Kempo, called the 'Eighteen Hands' from Mr. Yi.

Sosai Oyama was a pupil of Master Gichin Funakoshi's School of Karate (Shotokan), and later studied and mastered the Goja Style of Karate from Master Nei Chu So.  He also possessed a 4th degree (yon-dan) black belt in the art of Judo, and was very proficient in Daito-Ryu-Aiki-jitsu (his direct instructor was Kotaro Yoshida), Chinese and Korean Kenpo, trained with Gogen Yamaguchi of Nippon Goju-Kai, and was a member of the famous Butoku-Kai Self-Defense Martial Arts Organization.

Of special mention and who was of great consequence and influence to Sosai Oyama was Kotaro Yoshida of Daito-Ryu-Aiki-jitsu. It is from this martial art discipline that a majority of Sosai Oyama's self-defense movements and techniques were derived and developed from.

It is Kotaro Yoshida who is specifically mentioned by Sosai in his book, "This is Karate," as ' "...Unrivaled in the fields of Japanese aikido, sword fighting, judo and knife throwing ... When Yoshida was young, he never lost a match in reverse hand techniques (gyakute), sword fighting or judo.  He always explained that martial arts are for human physical and psychological training and discipline ... I have never seen or heard of techniques as wonderful as my teacher's.  His mastery of his art can only be called perfection.  As an example of just how excellent this man's technique is, I will cite his ability to catch a fly in flight with a pair of chopsticks.  This is the type of technique that can be executed only by someone whose movements, techniques and breathing have been perfected to the ultimate ... until he was nearly fifty, Yoshida was performing this difficult technique with extraordinary skill." '

Because Sosai Oyama's self-defense techniques are heavily based on daitoryu aikijustsu, the following account reveals several principal players who werc instrumental in the evolution of Sosai's Kyokushin Karate system.

 

From 1943 to 1945, Sosai Oyama served in the Imperial Japanese MilitaryGiven that he was a yondan in both Kodokan Judo and Shotokan Karate, he was assigned to the Dai-Nippon-Butoku-Kai, Kiho-kai section, for training of military service in Manchukuo (Manchuria, northwest China) at the Daito-Kan.

 

The Daito-Kan taught daito-ryu-aikijutsu.  The division Sosai was assigned to was a division of Korean nationals being trained in espionage, hand-to-hand warfare, and guerrilla tactics for wartime use.  The Kiho-Kai specialized in teaching methods in these areas.

 

The genealogy and history of daito-ryu-aikijutsu touches the development of Kyokushin Karate at this point in time.  It was a young Matsutatsu Oyama who was assigned to Tokimune Takeda, the Soke and chief instructor of the Daito-Kan.

 

Training at the Daito-Kan was severe, and may explain the tradition for the severity of training found in Kyokushin Karate.  Kyokushin style training more greatly reflects this tradition than that of the Shotokan school, the Goju school or Judo's Kodokan, which also influenced Sosai Oyama's martial arts development.

 

One theory as to why the Imperial Japanese Army used ethnic Korean nationals is that many of the Koreans living in Japan at the time were from Manchukuo or had lived there.  They knew the language, customs and culture of the area and could easily fit into the communities there.  Yong I Choi (Matsutatsu Oyama) was born near Gunsan, Korea and was sent to Manchukuo as an infant to live with his sister, and did not return to Korea until he was twelve years of age. (Korea, annexed in 1910, was a puppet state under the suzerainty of Japan.)

 

Mas Oyama's direct instructor was Kotaro Yoshida, a student of Sokaku Takeda, and an accomplished martial artist in his own right.  In the Daito-kan "eimeiroku" (registry of students), Takeda conferred "kyoju dairi" (instructor certification) status on Yoshida to teach daito-ryu, and Yoshida was said to be Takeda's secretary for book-keeping and correspondence, as Takeda was proud of the fact that he was illiterate.

 

It was Kotaro Yoshida that sponsored Morihei Ueshiba in his initial study of daito-ryu aikijutsu, which he later evolved into modem aikido.  Ueshiba was not of samurai stock and therefore needed a sponsor to enter the Daito-Kan.  It was also Kotaro Yoshida who became one of the main teachers of the late Tokimune Takeda, former Soke of Daito-Kan.

 

Kotaro Yoshida was a samurai.  his father was on the losing side of the Satsuma rebellion of the late 1800's.  Through his father, he also studied and mastered yanagi-aikijutsu, the Yoshida family art, as well as the skill of tessenjutsu, the techniques of the iron fan, and shaken-jutsu, the techniques of a type of shuriken or throwing knife, as well as traditional iaido, the Way of Drawing the Sword, and kendo, the Way of the Sword.

 

Sensei Yoshida was in his 70's when Sosai Oyama was his student.  At the time, Yoshida was famous for his abilities, a martial artist of formidable prowess, and was known as an eccentric ascetic.  He also was recognized as an ultranationalist, and a conservative on his views of Japanese politics and culture.  Beyond this, there is little information about Yoshida, for he was a member of the secret society called the "Kokuryukai" or the "Amur River Society", more commonly known outside of Japan as the "Black Dragon Society", as well as the "Genyosha7'.

 

Yoshida acted at various times as a recruiter and teacher for the pre-war DaiNippon Butokukai, the Toyama Military Academy, the Navy Academy and the Air Force.  Like most Kokuryukai members, when it became apparent that Japan would lose the war, all documents and records of Yoshida's activities were destroyed at his and the govemment's requests to avoid prosecution by the allied occupation forces.

 

It is a fact that Matsutatsu Oyama and Kotaro Yoshida were associated during the years of 1943 through 1945, yet there is speculation that they also had a post-war relationship.

After WWII, Yoshida moved to Tokyo and opened a daito-ryu dojo in Toshima-ku, near to where the present IKO Honbu stands today.  It is considered that Sosai Oyama trained there immediately after the war for a period of time, as his name is found in Sensei Yoshida's student registry of the time.

 

The association of Sosai Oyama and Sensei Yoshida may also have been intertwined through Gogen Yamaguchi and Nei Chu So of the Goju School of Karate.

 

At that time, Gogen Yamaguchi was serving with the Japanese Imperial Army in Manchukuo as an intelligence officer.  Meanwhile, Nei Chu So was a Korean national living in Japan, a priest of the Nichiren Buddhist Sect, and who was known as a gentleman and a superior karate man. (So later returned to Korea where has was active in helping to rebuild his homeland after the civil turmoil of the early 1950's.)

 

All three men, Oyama, Yamaguchi and So, were associated through the same dojo in Tokyo until the early 1950's.

And yet, no one will truly know the first-hand accounts and associations of some of the principal players, Kotaro Yoshida (d. 1967), Gogen Yamaguchi (d. 1989), and Masutatsu Oyaina (d. 1994), for they are now deceased.  And although Nei Chu So returned to Korea in the early 1950's, his whereabouts today are unknown; if he is still alive, he would be 92 years of age and presumably residing in a Nichiren Buddhist monastery somewhere in southern Korea (attempts to locate So or his personal history are nonexistent as of yet).

 

A comparison of Sosai Oyama's books with manuals from various sources of aikijutsu shows significant influence of this martial art on the development of Kyokushin Karate.  However, the application of the specialized aspects of techniques has evolved and become more refined in their movement, through the influence of Sosai Oyaina.

 

And so it is a fact that "Kyokushin Karate" encompasses the best techniques of all the martial arts that Sosai studied, thus enabling its development through strong, worthy and proven roots of methodology.

 

 

 

 

            Kyokushin Karate Dojo Kun (Oath)

 

 

We will train our hearts and bodies for a firm, unshaken spirit.

 

We will pursue the true meaning of the Martial Way,

so that in time our senses may be alert.

 

With true vigor, we will seek to cultivate a spirit of self denial.

 

We will observe the rules of courtesy, respect our superiors,

and refrain from violence.

 

We will follow our religious principles,

and never forget the true virtue of humility.

 

We will look upwards to wisdom and strength,

not seeking other desires.

 

All our lives, through the discipline of karate,

           we will seek to fulfill the true meaning of the Kyokushin way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mas Oyama's Eleven Mottos

 

1 The Martial Way begins and ends with courtesy. Therefore, be properly and genuinely courteous at all times.

 

2 Following the Martial Way is like scaling a cliff. Continue upwards without rest. It demands absolute and unfaltering devotion to the task at hand.

 

3 Strive to seize the initiative in all things, all the time guarding against actions stemming from selfish animosity or thoughtlessness.

 

4 Even for the martial artist, the place of money cannot be ignored. Yet one should be careful never to become attached to it.

 

5 The martial way is centered in posture. Strive to maintain correct posture at all times.

 

6 The martial way begins with one thousand days and is mastered after ten thousand days of training.

 

7 In the martial arts, introspection begets wisdom. Always see contemplation on your action as an opportunity to improve.

 

8 The nature and purpose of the martial way is universal. All selfish desires should be roasted in the tempering fires of hard training.

 

9 The Martial Arts begins with a point and end in a circle. Straight lines stem from this principle.

 

10 The true essence of the martial way can only be realized through experience. Knowing this, learn never to fear its demands.

 

11 Always remember: In the martial arts the rewards of a confident and grateful heart are truly abundant.

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